Lifting device



NW 1, EH49 W, 11 ELLls 2,43fifi33 LIFT ING DEVICE Filed Nov 6, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l FP- WALLAQE ATTORNEYS NW0 L flw w. T. ELLIS 14 9 LIFTING DEVICE Filed Nov. 6, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 95' 9 7 //0 I 2 l a Q a 26 p J 25 2 5 E i a x/ l3 VENT ATTD RN EYE Patented Nov. 1, 1949 STATES PATENT OFFICE My present invention relates generally to handling implements of the hoist line type, and more specifically to a form lifting device in the nature of a sling, which while adapted for use with various other materials and articles is especially designed for use with a crane or hoist line in loading and unloading steel forms employed in concrete highway construction. The primary object of the invention is the provision of a hoisting sling or carrier that is composed of a minimum number of standardized parts that may with facility be manufactured at low cost of production and readily assembled into an appliance by means of which prearranged stacks or upright piles of the concrete forms may be handled in loading and unloading railroad cars and automotive trucks.

The invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrangements in the construction and operation of the novel sling involving a hoist bar and a pair of suspended stirrups or carriers, together with load supporting means whereby a prearranged stack of forms may with convenience be picked up bodily, locked in the sling, moved by a crane or hoist-line to a desired location, and then deposited in its original shape.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated one complete example of a physical embodiment of my invention wherein the parts are combined and arranged in accord with one mode I have devised for the practical application of the principles of my invention. It will, however, be understood that changes and alterations may be made in these exemplifying drawings and mechanical structures, within the scope of my appended claims, without departin from the principles of my invention.

Figure 1 is a view in elevation, with parts broken away for convenience of illustration, of a sling in which my invention is embodied, showing a stack of forms, with the loaded sling in position as suspended from a crane, or other hoisting apparatus.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view in elevation of one of the stirrups, or carrier units, with its guard or cage broken away.

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse sectional View through the loaded forms, at line 33 of Fig. 1, showing an inner end elevation of a stirrup.

Figure 4 is a transverse detail sectional view at line l--t of Fig. 3; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the load-locking bolt of one of the stirsling includes a hoist line ring or link I that is adapted to be suspended from a crane or other load handling machine or hoist line implement, and the two chains or cables 2 and 3 are attached to clevises t that are pivotally mounted at the opposite ends of the spreader bar or spacing hoist bar 5, which is preferably a channel beam of suitable length.

Lifting chains 6 and l are pivotally suspended at 8 from the horizontal hoist bar, and a pair of stirrups, cages, or carriers is suspended by these chains at A and B from the opposite ends of the hoist bar, to support the load of concrete forms F, or other articles to be handled.

These metallic stirrups are of duplicate complementary construction and operation, and therefore a description in detail of one stirrup will suffice for both of them.

Each of the stirrups includes a pair of spaced legs 9 and Hi that are open and spaced apart at their lower ends, and rigidly united at their upper ends by means of welded plates I I through the flanges of which plates bolts l2 are passed for co-action with the suspending links A and B.

Each stirrup or cage is open from top to bottom to provide a space that permits the stirrups of the sling to be lowered over a prearranged pile or stack of the forms F of which stack the bottom form is slightly elevated above the supporting surface to provide clearance for the lower ends of the stirrups in mountin the sling on the stack.

The legs 9 and In of each stirru are rigidly united by means of a box-like structure or cage I3 that performs the functions of a guard or shield to prevent endwise sliding movement or displacement of the forms in the loaded stack. These guards are preferably made of sheet metal, somewhat U-shaped in horizontal cross section, and welded at their edges to the legs of the stirrup, and they are provided with exterior braces or yokes M to reinforce the open-top and openbottom structure.

In the operation of loading 'the sling, and after the stirrups have been lowered over the prearranged and elevated stack of forms F, with the guards enclosing the ends of the stack, the stack is firmly locked and supported within the sling by means of quick-detachable load supporting bars in combination with supporting hooks l5 at the lower ends of the legs of each stirrup. These hooks [5 open upwardly with oblique guide walls [6 that conform to the upwardly inclined lower edges H at the open bottom of an adjoining cage or guard 13, and in looking the load in the 3 sling the hooks 15 project below the bottom of the lowermost form of the elevated stack.

A pair of hooks of each stirrup is designed to receive and retain a load-supporting bar I9 which is adapted to be slipped under the guard and into the hooks beneath the load, and a retaining head 20 is provided on the free end of the bar to prevent displacement.

The horizontal load bar I9 is made integral with a verticall 'disposed, partially rotatable lifting bolt 2| that is mounted on one of the legs of a stirrup and guided in a retaining loop 22 welded to the stirrup, and the upper end of this bolt is fashioned with "a horizontal crank arm or handle 23 disposed parallel with the load bar, and which in locked position projects within the stirrup adjacent :the top plate II of the stirrup as indicated in the drawings.

For unloading the stack from the sling, and' by means of the handle 23, the bolt 2| is given a quarter-turn and lifted to disengage the load bar from its supporting hooks, the load bar swings outwardly under the inclined edges of the cage 'or guard,'and Ithe uplifted bolt is automatically caught and latched in inoperative position.

For this purpose the bolt is provided with a projecting' pin or lug 24 that turns with the bolt, and as the bolt is lifted the lug co-acts with a pivoted latch mounted on the stirrup. The bolt passes loosely and upwardly between a pair of bracket plates or arms 25 welded to the stirrup, and a slotted latch 26 is pivoted at 2? in the bracket and fashioned with a cam face or flange 28 located in the path of the lug 24. In the lifting movement of the bolt 2!, the lug 24 rides under the flange 28 to rock the latch, the lug slips into the slot of the latch, and as indicated in Fig. 5, the bolt :and' load bar are retained in inoperative position and ready for attachment to another stack.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as'new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a sling for the purpose described, the combination with a hoist bar, a pair of stirrups suspended therefrom, and a pair of load-supporting hooks rigid with each stirrup, of a vertically movable and partially rotatable lifting bolt mounted on each stirrup and a lug on each bolt, a horizontal load bar rigid with each bolt and seated within a pair of hooks, and a slotted latch .pivotally mounted on each stirrup in the path of upward movement of a lug, for automatically supporting the bolt in inoperative position.

2. In a slingfor the purposedescribed, the combination with a hoist bar, a pair of stirrups suspended therefrom, a pair of load supporting hooks rigid with each stirrup, and oppositely projecting end guards mounted on the stirrups, of a partiall rotatable vertically liftable bolt mounted on each stirrup, .a horizontal load bar rigid with each bolt and seated within .a pair of hooks, and oo-acting means on the bolt and stirrup for supporting the bolt in uplifted inoperative position.

3. In a load carrying unit for a sling as described, the combination with a stirrup including apair of spaced legs terminating in hooks and united at their upper ends by a suspension plate, a guard rigidly mounted on the outer side of the stirrup legs open at top and bottom, and the bottom edges of said guard inclining upwardly from said hooks, of a horizontal load bar seated in the hooks below said edge, a vertical liftable bolt inte'gral with the bar andmourrted for partial rotation on one of" the legs, a crank handle at the upper end of'the bolt parallel with'the load bar, a lug rigid with the bolt, a slotted pivotally mounted latch on sthe'st'irr'up, and a, cam'flange on said latch in'the' path of upward movement of said lug. u v I 'WALLA'CE T.'ELLIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are 'of record in the file of this patent:

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